A heavy silence still hung in the air. The door through which those monsters had disappeared continued to tremble from Ais's attack, but it remained firmly shut.
Finn kept his gaze fixed on the metallic surface, his left thumb still trembling. Riveria stood beside him, tense, her eyes scanning every possible clue. Lefiya was breathing heavily, visibly shaken by the strangeness of what had just occurred. Ais remained silent, the edge of her sword still raised against the door, eyes fixed on the floor—but her expression was distant.
"…They got away" —murmured Bete, breaking the silence. His tone wasn't mocking—just bottled-up frustration.
Finn let out a slow, quiet sigh.
"There's nothing we can do now. They're gone. And I'm not chasing ghosts in a darkness we don't even understand."
Gareth crossed his arms.
"So we go back?"
Finn shook his head.
"No. This place… as strange as it is… still holds too many unanswered questions. What we saw—those monsters helping each other, their behavior… none of it makes sense."
"What are you thinking?" —Riveria asked cautiously.
"That if we don't find answers here… we won't find them anywhere."
With those words, the group decided to keep exploring the strange place.
The rooms felt endless. Unlike the Dungeon's usual floors, the design was more angular, artificial. The walls were made of materials so rare and hard to find on the surface, it felt like a dream. The doors looked more like mechanical works of art than simple defensive structures. Yet, the monsters' trail had vanished. When they tried to turn back, they only found another locked door. Except for the one the monsters had escaped through, the rest were strangely open, as if they'd lost the will to keep hiding secrets.
They passed through several massive chambers and entered a large hall where black stone columns rose like needles. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of rapid footsteps. Three figures, at the far end of the corridor, spotted the Loki Familia and instantly turned to flee.
"Stop!" —shouted Finn, stepping forward.
The figures sped up.
"Tsk! No way!" —Bete growled, crouching like a beast before shooting forward with blinding speed.
The Amazons reacted instantly. Tione lunged forward, while Tiona flanked from the side. In seconds, the three enemies were slammed to the ground, immobilized with brutal precision.
"Let me go! Bastards!" —one of them screamed, panicked.
The woman who seemed to be in charge—tall, dark-skinned, with braided hair—tried to break free, but Tione pressed her down harder with her knee.
"Let me guess," —said Riveria, watching their futile escape attempts.—"You're Dix's subordinates… right?"
"No doubt about it" —Lefiya added coldly, though her voice trembled slightly.
"Speak. What was Dix Perdix trying to achieve by attacking Rivira?" —Finn demanded, his tone leaving no room for argument.—"Don't even think of lying. Do it, and you die. Refuse to talk… and you die too."
The woman swallowed hard, realizing there was no way out. Finally, she began to speak, with the other two behind her lowering their heads.
"The original plan was simple… take out the elves from the Loki Familia. Dix ordered us to surround Rivira from different angles, creating distractions to isolate the little one"—she glanced at Lefiya—"from her guardian."
Silence fell over the group.
"I… I was the one who placed the bait to separate her from the group. If we caught her or managed to kill her, we could make Nine Hell (Riveria) lower her guard and fall into a trap we'd already prepared. Then… if everything went well, we would destroy Rivira and seriously damage your Familia's reputation."
A surge of energy pulsed through the air. Bete growled like a real beast, his muscles swelling as if ready to pounce at any moment. The Amazons stopped smiling. Even Ais lifted her head slightly, her eyes cold as steel.
Lefiya lowered her gaze, gripping her staff tightly.
"You were close…" —she murmured, her voice trembling with restrained emotion.
Riveria stepped forward, her energy flowing like a silent threat.
"And then… what changed?" —Finn asked, his calm dangerously sharp.
The woman hesitated, but continued.
"When everything seemed to be going according to plan, Dix contacted us. He said the plan had changed. We had to return to Knossos to intercept something… or someone. A phenomenon, he called it. A being that had been eluding us for some time. We don't know much about it, only that it had taken refuge on floor 18."
Lefiya's head shot up, connecting the dots.
"A being…?" —she whispered—"A man in a cloak…?"
Everyone looked at her.
"It must have been… the one who saved me… back in the forest, when that monster ambushed us. I thought he was just an adventurer who happened to be nearby. But now… I understand… He wasn't."
The woman nodded slowly.
"Yes. That was him. The entire plan was changed to capture him. Everything. Even the trap meant for Nine Hell was used to ensure he wouldn't escape. Initially, the idea was to lure him with a few rookies, then surround him with a handful of people and that was it—but Dix suddenly changed everything…"
"And you caught him, didn't you?" —Gareth asked.
"Yes… we caught him. But…" —She looked away— "Because of that, there weren't enough people left to protect the artifacts drawing monsters to Rivira. Without a backup plan… it all went to waste. Dix was furious."
Finn narrowed his eyes.
"Just recently, we had a run-in with monsters that seemed to possess intelligence… What do you know about them?"
"…Ah," —one of the subordinates said—a young man with a dirty face and a blank expression—"So they escaped. They're known as Xenos. They're Dungeon monsters, but unlike normal ones, these have consciousness. They think, and some even speak. We… captured them."
"Captured them for what?" —Tiona asked seriously.
"For experiments," —he answered like it was obvious—"We tortured them. Tore off their limbs. Implanted gems… or turned them into living weapons—if they survived."
"Tsk!" —Bete clicked his tongue, kicking a stone in fury. He never liked that kind of thing, even if it involved monsters.
"That's why… those monsters were helping others," —Lefiya said, understanding now. "They were rescuing their own."
"They were saving their kind" —Riveria added, her voice tense but steady.
Finn took a deep breath, his mind a storm after the revelation—but he knew there were more pressing matters at hand.
"And this place? What exactly is it?"
The woman hesitated, then finally replied.
"It's known as Knossos. A man-made labyrinth created by the great Daidalos and maintained by his bloodline. Dix is… the last of his line. He has full control of this place. We only know certain areas. We don't even know its full size. Only Dix knows."
Gareth scratched his beard, worried.
"A labyrinth… built by man? With orichalcum and adamantite scattered everywhere?"
"And that he can fully control at will," —Riveria added— "That explains many things… and raises even more questions."
The group fell into a sort of silent reflection. Each of them processing the truth in their own way.
"So… there are monsters that can think" —Tione murmured.
"And speak" —Tiona added, her expression showing even she could hardly believe it.
Bete growled.
"That doesn't change the fact they're still monsters."
"Do you really believe that?" —Finn asked, glancing sideways at the wolf.
Bete didn't respond. His furrowed brow and the way he avoided everyone's eyes said more than any words could.
But it was Ais who stood out the most. She hadn't said a single word the entire time. Her sword still hung in her hand, her eyes fixed on the ground, lifeless.
Lefiya watched her, worried.
"Ais…" —she tried to say something, but stopped.
Finn took a deep breath, finishing processing everything. Now, it was time to return to their main mission.
"Where is Dix now?"
"We don't know," —one of the men replied, still looking down— "We lost contact with him. The last time we saw him, he ordered us to monitor the situation in Rivira. But when we returned, everything was empty. Just signs of a massive battle where most of the Xenos we had captured had been. Then we felt a strong tremor and all the doors Dix had once kept sealed and protected in Knossos suddenly opened… We tried to flee, sensing something was wrong, but on our way out, we ran into you."
"…I see."
Seeing Finn was done, Riveria raised her staff, invoking her magic. A restriction spell began to wrap the subordinates' hands in a green glow.
"Handle them, Bete," —she ordered, without even glancing at the wolf—"Don't let them escape."
"Tsk. I know" —he replied, stepping into position, watchful.
"We'll split up," —Finn commanded—"There are still areas left to explore. This place hides more secrets than we expected… and we can't afford to ignore them. But be careful—retreat if things go wrong."
With their orders given and Dix's subordinates secured, the group split into two units.
The teams split up, each taking one of the many branching paths. Finn led one group, while Riveria and Gareth took charge of the other. Ais walked in silence at the rear of Finn's unit. Lefiya followed closely behind, stealing glances at her, unable to shake the growing concern tightening in her chest.
They moved through wide corridors that opened into massive halls, where the echoes of their footsteps rang out with an unsettling clarity. The oppressive silence of Knossos was broken only by their own presence. The architecture remained consistent: straight angles, perfect geometry, and materials impossible to classify. The walls shimmered faintly, as if infused with minerals unseen on the surface, and strange runes pulsed dimly in the torchlight.
Many of the doors were open, as if inviting them in... yet there was something deeply unsettling about them. Like bait. They soon noticed the pattern. the larger, seemingly less important rooms were the ones unlocked. Places that perhaps once served as storage, outdated laboratories, or chambers for failed projects.
But the important rooms—the ones protected by thick adamantite walls, etched with glowing, powerful runes—remained firmly sealed. Nothing could open them: not Riveria's spells, nor Ais's blade.
It was as if Knossos itself had chosen what to reveal... and what to hide.
They discovered dozens of strange rooms, some littered with broken tubes, scattered scrolls, and remnants of forgotten documents. Others were filled with shattered crystals and destroyed cages, the walls stained in ways that made Lefiya's stomach churn.
More and more signs pointed to the Xenos—shackles too small for a normal monster, worn chains with strange symbols carved into them, diagrams drawn in black stone depicting anatomies that didn't belong to any known creature.
"This place..." —murmured Finn, running his fingers over grooves carved into a wall— "was more than just a hideout. It was a testing ground."
They entered a large chamber at the end of one hallway. The air there was heavier, denser. The torchlight flickered unnaturally, and the shadows clung to the corners as if alive. Rows of monsters—common, unintelligent ones—were chained to the walls and floor. Their bodies trembled, muscles swollen from magical enhancement, eyes dull. Broken.
One suddenly roared and lunged forward with such force that it nearly snapped its chains.
Finn didn't hesitate.
"Kill them."
Ais stepped forward without a word. Her sword sliced through the air with elegant precision. Lefiya followed with a magical blast aimed at a troll thrashing in the back. Tiona and Tione descended like a storm. In a matter of minutes, it was over.
The chamber fell silent again. Only their heavy breathing and the soft drip of blood remained.
They pressed onward.
Room after room brought only more questions.
One chamber still held glowing magical circles, drawn in what appeared to be dried blood. Another was filled with broken cloaks and helmets, stained dark: the uniforms of those who had served under Dix.
And still... not a single sign of Dix himself.
By the time the teams regrouped, they had explored nearly every passage Knossos had allowed them to. All the main hallways, secondary chambers, and accessible laboratories had been searched. Only a few wings remained, sealed behind impenetrable wards.
The group returned not with clear answers—but with heavier hearts.
Gareth approached Finn, shaking his head, worry etched into his features.
"Some of those doors didn't even react to Riveria's strongest spells. It's like the dungeon... rejected us."
"It does," —Riveria said softly—"It's alive, in its own way. We're only seeing what it wants us to see."
Her words left a tense silence in the air.
The group gathered in a massive central hall—perhaps once a command chamber. Finn stepped forward.
He turned slowly, meeting each of their eyes. His face was calm, but those who knew him well could see the storm behind his blue eyes.
"We've seen enough."
He raised his voice, clear and firm.
"Yes, there are still answers hidden here. But more importantly. now we know what this place—Knossos—truly is. We know what Dix Perdix was doing. We know about the Xenos."
He looked to Riveria. Then to Gareth. Then to the rest of the group.
"This information changes everything."
No one objected.
They all felt it—that invisible, crushing shift. As if the very ground they had walked on their whole lives no longer existed.
"Loki needs to know. The Guild needs to know. The existence of Knossos, the Xenos, the experiments... If we hide this, we become no better than those who buried it before us."
He turned one last time toward a corridor lined with sealed doors.
"We'll come back. But not until we're ready to tear this place down to its roots."
Then he faced his Familia.
"We return to the surface. Now."
As they ascended through the paths they had cleared before, leaving behind the stone-and-metal labyrinth, Knossos fell silent once more. A dense, lingering quiet that followed them... watched them.
The strange heart of the dungeon still pulsed deep below. Secrets remained. Horrors remained.
But the Loki Familia no longer walked in ignorance. They carried the truth now.
The seed had already been planted.
And in the middle of the group, walking with her head down, Ais still hadn't said a single word. She had passed no judgment. She had offered no opinion.
But in her golden eyes... something had changed.
But the most shocking thing was the emotional imprint left behind. The common sense they had carried for years—decades—had begun to shift. Where they once believed monsters were soulless enemies, devoid of intelligence or emotion… now, they had to adapt to the idea that some only wanted to survive.
The seed of doubt had been planted.
And in the silence, as they walked, Ais still kept her gaze lowered. She hadn't said a word. Hadn't passed judgment. But in her golden eyes… something had changed.
An echo resonated within her.
One she didn't fully understand.
'If they can think… are they still monsters?'